America's Favorite Towns 2013

The votes are in for T+L readers’ best-loved small towns, from Vermont to Utah.

No. 3 St. Simons, GA

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The ebb and flow of the Atlantic dictates life in this resort town on an 18-square-mile island off the Georgia coast. T+L readers gave St. Simons high marks for the caliber of its residents, scoring ninth place for most active and sixth for their intelligence. They’re lucky to live in a beautiful natural setting, with miles of sandy beaches and sprawling oaks. Attractions include golf courses and an 1872 lighthouse with sweeping views.

America's Favorite Towns 2013

No. 3 St. Simons, GA

The ebb and flow of the Atlantic dictates life in this resort town on an 18-square-mile island off the Georgia coast. T+L readers gave St. Simons high marks for the caliber of its residents, scoring ninth place for most active and sixth for their intelligence. They’re lucky to live in a beautiful natural setting, with miles of sandy beaches and sprawling oaks. Attractions include golf courses and an 1872 lighthouse with sweeping views.

Georgia Tourism

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By
Sarah L. Stewart

As you watch the sun dip below 14,000-foot peaks from Allred’s restaurant, toast your craft beers to a vacation well spent in Telluride, CO, a historic ski town hip enough to host film and bluegrass festivals.

Telluride, rated No. 7, is just one of the small towns with outsize personalities that proved irresistible to the T+L community. For our first America’s Favorite Towns survey, we asked our fans and followers to nominate their favorites on social media with the hashtag #TLTowns—and then to vote for the 744 towns in 55 categories, including farmers’ markets, museums, adventure travel, and family-friendly hotels.

To determine the overall popularity results, we calculated each town’s average score. The results reveal that T+L readers have a soft spot for small towns in the Rockies, with the No. 1 title going to Aspen, CO, which scored highly for its attractive locals, beer scene, and Victorian-era Main Street.

What most winning towns have in common is a history dating back at least a century. Charlottesville, VA, for instance, still bears the imprint of Thomas Jefferson, who masterminded Monticello and the University of Virginia and also appreciated fine wine. The area makes a scenic wine-country getaway, with the Blue Ridge Mountains for a backdrop.

Read on for more of T+L’s favorite towns—and share your picks in the comments below.